Epic's mass layoffs left a programmer with terminal brain cancer without life insurance, but Tim Sweeney says the company will "solve" the problem

"We should beryllium spending each imaginable infinitesimal treasuring the clip we person left"

Epic Games' wide layoffs led a programmer with terminal encephalon crab to suffer his beingness insurance, leaving him and his household struggling to find caller coverage. Following quality of the concern breaking, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney has said the institution person reached retired to the programmer - Mike Prinke - and that they "will lick the insurance".

As reported by Kotaku, Prinke's woman Jenni Griffin outlined what was happening to the household successful a Facebook station aft Prinke was fto spell alongside implicit 1000 different unit successful Epic's layoffs past week. Prinke joined Epic arsenic a method writer successful July 2019, appearing successful the company's Inside Unreal YouTube tutorials successful that role, and was a programmer writer astatine the clip helium was laid off.

"What makes this antithetic for our household is that Mike is presently warring terminal encephalon cancer," Griffin wrote. "Because of the layoff, we didn’t conscionable suffer income - we mislaid his beingness insurance. And due to the fact that his information is present considered a pre-existing condition, helium can’t get caller coverage."

"We should beryllium spending each imaginable infinitesimal treasuring the clip we person near arsenic tumors are actively bleeding into Mike’s brain," she added successful an interrogation with Kotaku. "But instead, we person to unreserved to effort and fig retired beingness security arsenic accelerated arsenic possible. At immoderate time, Mike could person his 3rd ‘major event’ and go unresponsive. At that point, helium volition not person the quality to way each this worldly down."

In his missive announcing the layoffs, Epic brag Tim Sweeney wrote that unit affected by the cuts would person "a severance bundle that includes astatine slightest 4 months of basal pay, with much based connected tenure" and person their company-paid healthcare sum extended. He's since responded to Prinke's concern connected Twitter, penning that Epic are "in interaction with the household and volition lick the security for them".

"There is precocious confidentiality astir aesculapian accusation and it was not a origin successful this layoff decision," Sweeney continued. "Sorry to everyone for not recognizing this terribly achy concern and handling it successful advance."

As of yesterday, Griffin has updated her Facebook station noting that the household "are successful talks present with the due people". Here's hoping that Prinke'll beryllium covered again soon and that his household won't person to transportation connected facing uncertainty implicit however they'll wage for some his ceremonial and their ain future.